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Blue original The company says it is on track to launch its New Glenn towering vehicle before the end of the year, though the company is still awaiting regulatory approval to conduct a final major test of the massive rocket.
This test, called “hot fire,” involves starting all seven BE-4 first-stage engines and running them at full power while the rocket sits on the pad. The test is designed to reflect how the car behaves during takeoff. If all goes as planned during the hot-fire test, Blue Origin will move to integrate the fascia (the part of the rocket that carries the payload) as a final step before launch.
A lot depends on this first test. Like Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos He said in an interview At the New York Times’ Dealbook Summit earlier this month, New Glenn was key to his vision of lowering the cost of launch enough to get all polluting industries into orbit: “I know this sounds fanciful, so please forgive this audience,” he said. “Bear with me.” For a moment.” “But it’s not imaginary. This is going to happen, and we need to get the cost of getting into space low enough, and that’s what our New Glenn orbiter is all about.
The 320-foot-long rocket will be able to carry 45 metric tons (99,200 pounds) to low Earth orbit. That’s more powerful than United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket and SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy in its reusable configuration. For comparison, the SpaceX spacecraft, the largest rocket ever built, is designed to carry 100 to 150 metric tons to low Earth orbit.
In the short term, getting New Glenn up and running will likely be key to turning Blue Origin into a profitable company. While Blue Origin’s financials are not public, and it benefits heavily from Bezos’ personal wealth, the Amazon founder said during the same summit that he expects it to one day grow into his largest business to date.
“I think it will be the best job I’ve ever been involved in, but it will take some time,” he said.
The inaugural New Glenn mission was originally scheduled to send a pair of high-profile satellites to Mars for NASA, in a launch window that opened in October. But the space agency ultimately decided to postpone that mission to another New Glenn launch in the spring of 2025, citing potential problems that could arise if the rocket was delayed.
Instead, the NG-1 mission will test a demonstration payload of the company’s Blue Ring orbital transfer vehicle, including communications, power system, flight computer and software that will be used in future production OTVs. In a post on XBlue Origin CEO Dave Limp said the company is developing Blue Ring in response to “the growing demand to move equipment and infrastructure quickly and place it into multiple orbits.”
The rocket’s maiden flight will also be the first of two approved launches Blue Origin must obtain to begin flying national security payloads under the Space Force’s National Security Space Launch Program.
However, before any of this can happen, Blue Origin must obtain regulation from the FAA. Once those elements are in hand, Blue Origin can launch the rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
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